Capital city dwelling values rise in November

November recorded a rise in dwelling values across every capital city except Melbourne. But the overall growth rate has moderated in comparison with prior months’ performances.

Capital city dwelling values rose by 0.2 per cent last month, according to the CoreLogic November Hedonic Home Value Index.

While the headline results remained in positive growth territory, the monthly capital gain reading was also the softest result since December 2015 when capital city dwelling values were unchanged over the month. The combined regional areas of Australia showed a weaker result, with house values falling by 0.2 per cent over the month.

Corelogic head research Tim Lawless said the soft performance was attributable to a 1.5 per cent fall in the Melbourne index, while all other capital cities recorded a positive month-on-month result.

“Delving into the Melbourne results in more detail showed that unit values were down a larger 3.2 per cent in November, while Melbourne house values declined by 1.3 per cent over the month,” Mr Lawless said.

The November figures showed that capital city dwelling values rose by 1.7 per cent over the three months of spring, a substantial improvement over last year.

Spring 2015 saw capital city dwelling values fall by 0.2 per cent, with auction clearance rates dipping below 60 per cent in late November and early December. In contrast, auction clearance rates held firm in the mid-70 per cent range throughout spring this year, with Sydney clearance rates hovering around the 80 per cent mark over the past three months.

On an annual basis, every capital city, except for Perth, showed a positive annual trend in dwelling value growth.

The highest annual growth rate was evident in Sydney and Melbourne where dwelling values were now 13.1 per cent and 11.3 per cent higher respectively, reflecting a steeper upwards trajectory in growth over the second half of the year.

The Hobart and Canberra markets also saw some acceleration in growth rate trends, with dwelling values up 8.5 per cent and 8.4 per cent respectively over the past twelve months.

For the first time since February 2015, Darwin’s annual growth rate moved back into the black and recorded a 1.1 per cent rise in dwelling values over the past year.

Mr Lawless said results for smaller cities such as Darwin, tended to show higher levels of volatility.

“The November results also show a rise in transaction numbers across the Darwin market over recent months, supporting the moderate improvement in market conditions that the Hedonic Index is showing.”